Comparing French and Dutch Raps
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Exploring the Differences and Similarities Between Two Cultural Forms
Introduction: The Corpus and the Purpose of the Study
My
corpus consists of 300 tracks by the following French and Dutch rap
artists and singers: Alonzo, Jul, PNL, Gims (French) and Lijpe, Boef,
Sevn Alias, Josylvio (Dutch). So the corpus consists of both French and
Dutch hip-hop music (raps).
I deliberately chose this corpus because I often like listening to
French and Dutch rappers myself.
In terms of style and approach, French and Dutch rap are different, but
both are characterized by their ability to engage with the issues and
experiences of their respective communities, and both have made
significant contributions to the development of hip-hop as a global
cultural form. It is therefore worth researching rap music of both
languages where we will look at the differences and similarities between
the two.
Differences and similairities between French and Dutch Rap
The natural groups are French rappers (Alonzo, Jul, PNL, Gims) and
Dutch rappers (Lijpe, Boef, Sevn Alias, Josylvio).
French rap is more characterized by its strong tradition of chanson
(which is a style of song that emphasizes vocal performance and poetic
lyrics) and French rappers often incorporate African and Carribean music
into their work, while Dutch rappers incorporate elements of gabber and
house into their work.
Both groups produce rap which means that they both use a very fast and
energetic flow as well as techniques such as Onomatopoeaia (sue of words
that imitate sounds, such as “boom” or “snap”).
However, I am curious to see what the analyses will show. Each rapper
obviously has his own way of rapping and, of course, does not always use
the same technique. It is therefore important to generalise as much as
possible when comparing raps in two languages. Moreover, I tried to keep
the rappers as representative as possible.
Selection of Rappers and Genres
The chosen rappers produce raps in French and Dutch. So to make a
comparison or look at differences between Dutch and French raps, I felt
it was enough to choose two Dutch and two French artists.
The corpus consist of raps and so it belongs to “Hip hop music” or “rap
music”. I think the tracks will cover the genre well since they are all
raps. The only gap maybe is that tracks by rapper Alonzo are gangsta rap
in addition to hip-hop. Furthermore, Jul also makes hip-house music and
tracks by Boef and Lijpe belong to nederhop and street rap. ultimately,
they do fall under the umbrella genre “Hip hop”.
Sample Tracks
Some typical typical sample tracks in my corpus are Ciao La France (Alonzo), Namek (Jul) and Hoofdpijn (Lijpe)
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The Corpus
Feature analysis
“The Energetic Beat: Exploring the Relationship between Tempo and Danceability in Hip Hop Music”
In general, hip hop music is known for having a strong beat and a
high level of energy. This is reflected in the tempo and danceability of
many hip hop tracks, which are often fast and rhythmically
complex.
This plot really shows this relationship. A large proportion of tracks
correspond to high energy and the “danceability” is well over 0.5 on
average. Furthermore, we see interesting differences such as that the
average tempo of Dutch raps is lower than French raps. The tempo
distribution of French raps is greater than that of Dutch raps. This may
be the reason why French raps more often give me more energy than Dutch
raps.
“Rhythmic Resonance bewteen Valence, Energy, and Loudness in French and Dutch Raps”
This plot shows the relationship between the features “valence”, “energy” and “Loudness” in French and Dutch raps. In the figure, the higher the valence and tempo be, the higher the loudness of the tracks be. Furthermore, the average energy of Dutch raps is lower, but whether this is significantly lower is questionable, as a discussion point is that the corpus contains slightly less Dutch rap than French rap. Lastly, the distribution of valence is almost the same in both cases
Chromagram
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In the case of French rap music in the corpus, analyzing the chromagram can provide insights into the tonal characteristics of the music and how they differ from other genres or regions. For example, it might reveal that French rappers tend to use certain chords or tonal centers more frequently than rappers from other countries, or that they use different melodic patterns or scales.
Analyzing the chromagram of a track of French rap such as this one could also be useful for identifying commonalities and differences between individual artists or sub-genres within French rap. For instance, it could reveal that one artist tends to use a particular tonal center or scale more frequently than others, or that certain sub-genres of French rap have distinct melodic or harmonic characteristics.
Comparing the chromagrams of two French tracks (outliers), “INTRO” and “MAINTENANT” from the playlist reveals significant differences in their pitch distribution. In “INTRO”, over time, the focus of the pitches is on different Chords such as C, D and G, whereas in “MAINTENANT”, there is a strong concentration of pitches around chord B and G. This means that “INTRO” is more complex and it has more different chord progressions.
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“Chromagram of a recording of GIMS; INTRO.” (Lowest danceability with one of the highest tempo)
“Chromagram of a recording of GIMS; MAINTENANT” (Highest energy with averaged valence)
Cepstrogram
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A cepstrogram serves as a graphical representation of a sound signal’s spectral envelope. It displays time on the horizontal axis and frequency on the vertical axis, and is obtained by analyzing the cepstrum, which results from the Fourier transform of a sound’s power spectrum logarithm. With its ability to analyze harmonics and other frequency components, the cepstrogram is a valuable tool for identifying the pitch and timbral distribution characteristics of individual notes or chords in musical recordings.
Comparing the tracks which I like the most reveals difference in between their timbral distributions. One of the most liked French and Dutch rap is “Au DD” of PNL and “Treinstation” of Boef respectively. On the one hand, in “Au DD”, there isn’t significantly a strong concentration (magnitude) of timbral characteristics around a specific spectral range. So, there is no frequency range where the sound is dominated by a particular quality or color that the song has a more balanced and consistent sound overall, without any one aspect of the sound dominating or standing out too much. On the other hand, “Treinstation” has more variation in different frequency ranges , with a stronger concentration of timbral characteristics around a certain frequency range. This could create a more unique and interesting sound for this piece.
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“Cepstrogram of a recording of PNL; Au DD” (French track also in “liked Songs” playlist)
“Cepstrogram of a recording of Boef; Treinstation” (Dutch track also in “liked Songs” playlist)
Self-similarity Matrices
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A self-similarity matrix helps to visualize and analyze the structure of a musical recording. It is created by comparing different sections of a piece of music and measuring the degree of similarity between them.
Here, both the similarity matrices based on chroma and timbre were evaluated for Au DD” of PNL and “Treinstation” of Boef. The timbre-based self-similarity matrix (which refers to the tone color or quality of the sound) for “Au DD” doesn’t clearly show block which indicate repeated patterns in the sound, whereas the self-similarity matrix based on timbre for “Treinstation” does. However, if one look carefully at the timbre-based self-similarity matrix for “Au DD”, one can see two small lines parallel to the main diagonal line in the figure which means that there are repetitions in the track.
The chroma-based self-similarity matrix (which refers to the pitch content of the music) of a recording of Boef; Treinstation” shows clearly small parallel lines indicating repeated patterns in the sound, whereas The chroma-based self-similarity matrix for “Au DD” does not.
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“Self-similarity Matrix (Timbre) of a recording of PNL; Au DD” (French)
“Self-similarity Matrix (Timbre) of a recording of Boef; Treinstation” (Dutch)
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“Self-similarity Matrix (Chroma) of a recording of PNL; Au DD”
“Self-similarity Matrix (Chroma) of a recording of Boef; Treinstation” (Dutch)
Conclusion
In this portfolio, the differences and similarities between French and Dutch rap music were explored through a collection of 300 tracks by French and Dutch rap artists. The portfolio found that French rap is characterized by its strong tradition of chanson and the incorporation of African and Caribbean music, while Dutch rap incorporates elements of gabber and house. Both groups use a fast and energetic flow, but there are differences in tempo and energy levels. The portfolio also analyzed the chromagrams of individual tracks, revealing differences in pitch distribution and chord progressions. Overall, the portfolio provides insight into the unique characteristics of French and Dutch rap and how they contribute to the development of hip-hop as a global cultural form.